


Ricochet

by Dabberdees



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Aaron gets a very brief mention but not an appearance yet, Angst, Broken Team TARDIS, Gen, Graham swears like three times because man you would as well, Hurt/Comfort, The Fam breaks up as Ryan and Yaz start playing the blame game, There's a very minor panic attack in chapter two, a character gets shot, how to characterise parents was a question I asked myself, there's blood and stuff, until the final chapter when they all make back up
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-16
Updated: 2019-03-30
Packaged: 2019-11-19 12:31:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 15,733
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18135788
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dabberdees/pseuds/Dabberdees
Summary: An unexpected and unplanned trip in the TARDIS causes one of the Fam to get shot.But the bullet ricochets in more ways than one as the Fam starts to fall apart when one member blames another for it.The Doctor is stuck in the middle of it all with the injured party, both at a loss of what to do and how to fix what's now been broken.





	1. Repercussions

Graham is making his way to the kitchen, a goal in mind to make his morning cuppa and one for the Doc. She’ll be up, seems she always is considering she catches him when he’s wondering the ship on the nights he can’t sleep — always managing to find him somehow. He smiles; briefly, his sleepless nights have been getting better, last night was a good one because he slept through it. Hopefully, that means it’s going to be a good day; he thinks to himself as he enters the kitchen, sending a mental thank you to the TARDIS for having the strange-looking kettle already boiled with two cups on the side.

Getting to work making the teas. His is just the bog-standard, the authentic Yorkshire Gold. He might be from the south of England initially but ever since he’s lived up north he’s been converted to the brew. Turning his attention to the Docs now, it’s simpler really, just the bag, water, then a dash of milk, he’s goes to take it from the side but he looks at the sugar and against his better judgment he makes it for his alien friend the way she truly likes it, an unnatural amount of sugar.

Satisfied with his morning ritual, he picks up the teas and heads off towards the console room. He frowns when he doesn’t see the Doc straight away. “Mornin’ Doc?” asked Graham to the seemingly empty room. No response, odd. He looks back towards the central column. “Uh, morning TARDIS, have you seen where she’s got to?” he added, he thinks he hears the ship make a particular noise in return, but he doesn’t have a connection to the ship like the Doc has to listen to her. Graham takes another look round for The Doc. “Maybe it’s just you and me then, old girl.” He places down the Docs tea and awkwardly pats the console. At first, he didn’t honestly believe that the ship was alive, but now he does.

“What are you doing, Graham?”

He jumps, spilling a little of his own tea onto his hand and swears while wincing from the slight burn. “Don’t do that, Doc.” He glances down and dries his hand off on his trousers.

“Sorry, Graham.” replied the Doctor walking forward. She makes a gentle grab for his hand, pulling it up and looking at it. “I got some cream that would sooth it.” suggested the Doctor, her face looking downtrodden.

Graham pulls his hand away and sighs when he sees her face, he gives her an encouraging smile. “Nah Doc, look It’s fine, see it doesn’t even have a mark, it was mainly a surprise is all.” he consoled as he gestures with his other hand to her tea. “I made you one as well, and against my better judgment, I’ve put a concerning amount of sugar in it, so it should be exactly how you like it.”

The Doctor grins down at the tea, quickly picking it up and looking back at Graham. “Brilliant! Thank you, Graham, I should make you the official tea maker. Never had an official tea maker before.” she replies, taking a gulp of the tea and Graham wonders how she doesn’t burn herself on it at all. “Any ideas where you want to go today?” she inquired, reaching for the custard cream dispenser, taking two and handing one over to Graham.

“I really don’t mind Doc,” Graham responds, accepting the biscuit and shrugging his shoulders. “Honestly, whatever Ryan and Yaz want to do. I’m easy.”

The Doctor dunks her custard cream repeatedly and looks back towards Graham. “You haven’t picked a place in a while, Graham. It should be your turn now.” She pops the now thoroughly dunked biscuit into her mouth in one bite. “Andyoudidmakethiswonderfultea.” mumbled the Doctor, over a mouthful of biscuit.

Graham inclines his head at the praise. Best tea in Sheffield is what his friends from the busses use to call it. “To be fair Doc, I’m in my late fifties now, let the youngsters choose.” He responds before taking a more polite bite of the biscuit. He likes Custard Creams, they’re good, but he’s more of a chocolate digestive sort of fellow. Of course, he wouldn’t tell the Doc that.

The Doctor looks at him, her eyes old now. “You’re a youngster to me, Graham.”

Graham looks up and sees she’s staring at him and there’s that ancient look in her eyes again. “True, I guess you got me there.” He replied as he thinks over her question for a bit, trying to find a place or something that he’d like to see. “Uh, something nice, you know, like when you showed us that asteroid named after Rosa Parks. Just something celebrating our great leaders, the decent ones though, not the awful ones that you think are great and then you google them, and it’s like, oh, not so great then, actually a pretty horrible person.”

The Doctor grins and downs the rest of her tea in one go. “Right, great leaders, decent ones, not the bad ones!” She dashes off towards the console, ready to input some directions but frowns, clicking something and then scrunching her face in thought. “Weird.” The Doctor looks up and into the central column of her fantastic ship. “Very weird.”

“What’s weird Doc?” asks Graham.

“She’s picking up an unusual energy reading in the time vortex, poor girl. She’s gonna need to land, but I won’t be able to pick a place.” She scrunches her face again. “I’ll have to set her to random.” She strokes the console, absentmindedly. “Sorry, Graham seems we’ll have to shelf your request for the moment. We just need to land and let the old girl get her bearings, should only be an hour max, hopefully.” The Doctor turns back to the screens and starts to read the information gathered there, ignoring Graham for the time being.

Graham nods his head and leans against one of the pillars. He’s a little disappointed, but he won’t let The Doc know that of course. He likes watching her work though, seeing her like this reminds him of, well himself. She talks to the ship like he used to speak to his bus. He smirks into his tea as he realises The Doc and him have that in common. He’s drawn from his thoughts by distant voices making their way to the console room.

He looks up to see Ryan and Yaz shuffling in and quietly chatting. “Mornin’ you two. I would’ve made you both a cuppa, but considering how late the both of you get up it would’ve been cold by now.”

Yaz waves his comment away with a smile, “Morning to you as well Graham and don’t worry. I’m more of a coffee drinker anyway.” replied Yaz in a warm tone.

Ryan shrugs and looks his grandad in the eye. “Just give me an energy drink, and I’ll be fine.” joked Ryan, laughing out loud when he sees the look on his granddad's face.

“If you’re Nan was here, she’ll have your hide if she knew you drank that rubbish, filled with all sorts of crap,” warned Graham. Ryan laughs even harder at his outburst and Graham sighs, but there’s a smile tugging at his lips. Ryan got him, and he knows it.

Yaz smiles at their antics before turning and making her way around the console and towards the Doctor, trying to read the display screens as she goes. She notes how the TARDIS never translates the circles for them; she’s figured that they must be the Doctor’s species equivalent to the ABCs. They look a lot prettier than the ABCs she remarks in her head.

“So, where are we going today, Doctor?” Yaz inquired, startling the Doctor from her concentration and thoughts.

She looks back at Yaz and pulls a small face. “Not sure, there’s weird energy in the time vortex. Got to land somewhere random, could be anywhere and anytime in the universe.” The Doctor feels excitement at the prospect. “Are you ready to go Fam?” Ryan and Yaz nod in response. Graham sighs and quickly finishes his tea lest he spills the remaining liquid down himself again in the chaos of the TARDIS in flight. He gives her the go-ahead, and she grins as she pulls down the lever.

* * *

It’s not long after that that they feel The TARDIS land. The Doctor quickly moves back over to the display screens and hums when she reads the data. “We’ve landed in a unique place. It’s sorta like a trench.” rambled the Doctor, explaining the layout with her hands. She scans for any hostile energy readings and finds none. Weirdly she can’t scan over the hills on both sides.

“Is it safe to explore Doctor?” questioned Yaz, eager to have a look around. “We won’t go far.”

“Yeah, we’ll just be outside while we wait for you to leave,” promised Ryan.

The Doctor gives the readings one final look. It seems safe, and the TARDIS does need to recalibrate herself for a few hours, thinking it over she gives them the go-ahead. “Very well, don’t go far though, stay outside the TARDIS until I exit.” she throws in the warning quickly as Ryan and Yaz grin, leaving the ship. Graham hangs back, but she gives him a wave to say she’ll be along in a moment. “Keep an eye on them, Graham, I’ll be along shortly.” He nods back, following after them.

The Doctor thinks back over their past few adventures. Since defeating the Dalek on New Years Days, they’ve been on quite a few, most of them fun, a few challenging but she wouldn’t change them at all and Ryan has made leaps and bounds with his Dad. She’s warming to Aaron a bit more now. Her thoughts go back to her Fam though, they all have their abilities, and she trusts each one of them. She turns and gives the TARDIS one last look, wishing her well and getting a small vrwoop in response. Grabbing her coat, she leaves the ship, looking around and spotting her Fam in the distance. She frowns, she told them not to wander much further than the TARDIS, if they just listened. Shaking her head with a smile tugging at her lips, she heads over to Graham.

He gives her a smile when she appears at his side. “Alright, Doc.” Graham greets again while giving her the bus driver nod. “It’s like watching over kids.” He gestures back towards Ryan and Yaz, a fond smile on his face. “You wouldn’t believe that they’re 19 and 20 with the way they’re acting.”

She can’t help but agree with him, but she includes him as well, he can be just as childish when he wants to. They walk together in silence, but it’s an unnatural and concerning she notices. It’s setting her on edge, the last time she felt like this was back on Desolation, and she can’t hear any birds or insects like she couldn’t on that planet. The Doctor pulls out her sonic to scan the area as Graham looks down at it, shrugging and carrying on. There doesn’t seem to be anything. Nothing particularly nasty, no strange energy readings, just nothing, nothing at all but something is definitely setting the warning bells off, and she doesn’t like it. It’s all too familiar, the silence, but not one like Desolation, something else. She jumps from her thoughts as Graham takes her arm.

“Hey, Doc, Ryan, and Yaz. They’ve found something, and I don’t like the look on their faces,” said Graham, pointing at the two of them. The pair have walked up one of the hills on the side.

The Doctor follows his hand and sees the look of shock and fear on Ryan and Yaz’ faces. She runs over to them to see what has got them scared and closes her eyes at the sight before her. She understands what her instincts were yelling at her now; she knows the silence of a battlefield all too well — the silence of the dead. Graham has reached her side now, and she hears him gasp, turning and glancing at him, she sees he’s becoming a little green at the sight as he leans down and rests his palms on his knees.

“Sorry, Doc. I gotta head back down, else I’m gonna lose that tea.” he quickly explains, escaping to safety.

The Doctor feels rough for Graham; she knows he doesn’t do well with sights like these. If she knew what the long grass was hiding, she wouldn’t have let them leave The TARDIS at all.

She pulls at Ryan and Yaz. “We need to leave now.” said the Doctor adamantly, leaving no room for argument.

Yaz turns her head back towards the dead. “But Doctor, there could be someone still alive down there.” pleaded Yaz.

The Doctor shakes her head. “They’re not alive Yaz, I’m sorry, but I have a duty of care to you all. I won’t be putting you into a battlefield.” explained the Doctor stepping towards her young friend, she knows she just wants to help. “This isn’t our war, please we just need to go back to the TARDIS.” She starts to pull Yaz away again, but she isn’t budging.

Ryan looks between them, and he agrees with the Doctors assessment. He wants to help, but he’s promised his Dad that he’ll come back, and he doesn’t want to go back on that promise. Doesn’t want to break them like his Dad does. “Come on, Yaz; we can’t help these people. They’re dead.” It’s upsetting to say that, but it’s the truth.

Yaz looks between the Doctor and Ryan. “We knew what we were letting ourselves in for when we started travelling with you, Doctor.” pleaded Yaz again, but she knows it’s futile. She doesn’t want to abandon people in need, but when she turns back to the battlefield and looks at it again, she can tell that the people in front of them are clearly dead after all. She goes to turn away but her police training kicks in and forces her to look back at them. Cocking her head to the side, she realises they have died in a bizarre and unnatural way. “Doctor wait, look.”

The Doctor and Ryan take a step up the hill again to look at what Yaz is pointing at. The Doctor doesn’t look pleased, but she’s now curious about what Yaz has spotted. Graham sighs, he doesn’t want to go back up there, but he also wants to protect Ryan from it, so he reluctantly joins them on the hill again.

“What is it, Yaz?” asked Graham, feel a little rough from the sight. He pushes his way past Ryan though and tries to block his view. Ryan frowns at his back, he doesn’t like being treated like a child but doesn’t move again, and he’s tall enough to see over his Grandads head anyway.

Yaz glances back at them; she’s kneeling down a bit to get a better view. “They’ve all died facing the same way. It’s like…” She furrows her brows. “...like they were running from something. Look, they have wounds in the back.” she points at a body not far away. “They look like bullet wounds.”

Graham regrets his decision almost instantly when he looks to see where she is pointing. If he has to look away from the squeamish bits in Call The Midwife, what the hell is he doing looking at a bunch of corpses in a field for? He thinks to himself. For a bus driver, he’s seen too many dead bodies now. He grimaces and turns his head away again; it doesn’t feel it right to intrude on their last moments.

The Doctor doesn’t harbour the same concerns though; she hates that they lost their lives, but she’s seen too many dead bodies over her long years now. She makes her way past Yaz and takes a look at the corpses in front of her more closely. She is frowning at each of them before looking back up at the horizon again. Yaz is correct, they have all been shot in the back, but how and why and what could have done it?

Graham decides it’s best to focus on The Doctor instead. Let her work out what caused these poor souls to die. He’s watching as she works out what happened and sees her lift her head towards the horizon, he follows her gaze but isn’t able to pick up what she is looking at.

The Doctor starts to turn her head back to Yaz, but her eyes catch a dazzling mark in the distance. It takes her a moment to focus on it before realising she’s staring down the barrel of a gun. “Down, now!” yelled The Doctor suddenly, she manages to push Yaz back over the hill, but she’s too far away from Graham and Ryan to help them.

Graham jumps into action at the sound of her voice, turning quickly and pushing Ryan down the hill, he goes to join him but before he can he hears a loud noise and instantly feels a burning pain rip through his left shoulder, the knockback sending him tumbling down the hill and causing him to land painfully on his right side, winded. He tries to move, but the pain is crippling; instead, he raises his right arm to his left shoulder and feels the growing wetness instantly. “Ah fuck,” he grunts out, in a quiet whisper.

The Doctor heard the shot ring out and waits, shielding Yaz with her own body hoping Ryan and Graham have managed to get down as well. After a moment, she looks up. “Is everyone alright?” demanded The Doctor in panic. Her eyes are trailing over all of them but they land on Graham last when he doesn’t respond. “Graham!” The Doctor jumps from her position and heads to his side. “Don’t move,” she ordered from his side, her hands gentle on his body.

Graham swallows hard, the burning pain in his shoulder overtaking the pain on his right side for a brief second. “I don’t think... I can Doc.” he grunts out in response, struggling over breath. He tries to move into a better position but calls out in pain, alerting the others to his predicament.

Ryan looks up at the sound. “Grandad!” He’s at his side in an instance with Yaz following behind, eyes looking on in terror at the growing blood stain on his granddad's shoulder. “Oh, my days.”

Yaz makes her way over as well. “Graham, are you alright?”

Ryan harshly looks back at Yaz. “Does he look alright to you?” he snapped at her. “We should’ve left when The Doctor said, but you had to take a closer look, didn’t you?” barked Ryan, his anger at Graham being hurt and his need for someone to blame overriding his friendship with her. Yaz flinches at the tone and steps away, hurt from the venom in his voice.

Quickly seeing the hurt look on Yaz’ face, the Doctor turns back to Ryan. “Not the time Ryan, never the time to blame someone.” warned the Doctor, her voice having a sharp edge to it. “We need to get him to the TARDIS now.” She moves to his left side and examines the entry wound, he’s looking at a broken collarbone if lucky, perhaps shattered if unlucky, but she can’t tell at the moment, any lower, and he would’ve been hit in a vital organ, lung, maybe she could’ve healed that but if it was his heart… no, he wasn’t hit there, he was hit in the shoulder, and people survive wounds like these all the time she just needs to get him back to The TARDIS, and she can patch him up there. With her plan in action, she gets to work.

“Right, I’m sorry about this, Graham, but I need to move you to your side for a moment.” explained The Doctor, as he looks at her, confusion apparent on his face. “I need to see if it's in the bullet is still in you and...” She places a hand on his chest, feeling the panicked intakes of breath and hearing the injured whimpering. “....I’m gonna be honest with you right now, it’s going to hurt.”

“And to think today started out…” He groans in pain again, breathing becoming more difficult with each panicked breath. “...so well. I don’t suppose the pain can get much worse.” moaned Graham. He looks back up at the Doctor, scared but he has faith in her. “Alright, Doc, do it. I trust you, but do it quick, please,” responded Graham, as he tries to brace himself for the pain that he knows is about to come.

The Doctor starts to move him onto his right side, but he’s trying to fight her now, the pain she’s causing him is evident on his stricken face as he cries out again. She stops. “Graham, please I need to check.” Graham locks his panicked eyes with her, as he nods again with a clenched jaw, biting down hard to stop himself from calling out. “Ryan, I’m going to need you to help hold him still while we do this.” instructed the Doctor.

“But you’re going to hurt him, Doctor,” argued Ryan.

She snaps her head to him, “I don’t have time to argue, I have to check.” said the Doctor, her voice having a dangerous edge to it but she now sees the hurt look on Ryan’s face. “Please.” begged the Doctor. Ryan nods and holds Graham still, talking to him in a quiet tone, she tunes him out. As she moves Graham over to check she feels him suck in a breath and squeeze his eyes shut. The injury on his left shoulder wouldn’t cause a reaction like that; something else is wrong with him. Deciding to get on with what she’s doing, she checks his back quickly, running her hands across it and breathing a sigh of relief when she finds no exit wound. It’s better that it’s still in him, she can fix that in the TARDIS. Regardless of what people ask her, she does have a medical degree.

“Okay, Ryan, you can help me move him back down now.” directed the Doctor. Graham looks back at her again, a haggard look to his face. “Good news Graham, it’s still in you.” He doesn’t reply. She turns her attention back to the wound again, it’s still bleeding, but thankfully, the blood stain doesn’t seem to be getting much more prominent now, but it’s horrifying to look at — the red sticking out against his paled flesh like an eyesore.

She picks up his slack arm, placing it across his chest in a secure position. “Right Ryan, I need your help in moving him again; he needs to get back to the TARDIS now.” Ryan nods in understanding and goes to Graham’s other side, ready to help with whatever she needs him to do without argument now. “Unfortunately for him, he’ll have to walk as we support him. We can't risk carrying him with an injury like that on his shoulder.”

The Doctor turns to Yaz, who is kneeling looking down. “Yaz, look at me.” She reaches for her hand. “Can you make your way back to the TARDIS? Explain the situation to her; she’ll listen and set up a room for us. Okay?” She doesn’t reply as she wipes her tears away. “Move low and keep your head down.” added The Doctor, she really doesn’t want to send her away and out of sight but she’s safer back at the TARDIS, and she needs her away from Ryan for the moment. She would rather send Ryan, but she knows he’ll just refuse to leave Graham’s side.

Ryan steadies the raising panic with a deep breath. “What do you need me to do?”

“Get yourself under his right arm, we need to direct his weight onto that side mainly.” explained the Doctor. “We can’t jostle his shoulder too much, don’t know the damage yet and I don’t want to dislodge the bullet in him.”

Ryan nods as he starts to support Graham’s weight from his right side but stops quickly when Graham cries out in agony, his right hand gripping onto Ryan’s painfully.

“Stop, shit, please stop.” whimpered Graham through gritted teeth. He’s breathing hard now, as the blood trails down his shirt from the wound on his left shoulder. “Sharp pain... in ribs.. right side.” He’s trying to explain but is struggling. “Hurts to breath, been struggling… since it… happened.” He closes his eyes, a sick feeling coming to him. He doesn’t do well with pain.

“Why didn’t you say you had pain in your ribs?” demanded The Doctor.

Graham slowly opens his eyes again, glancing at Ryan before turning his gaze back towards The Doctor. “I didn’t… want you to worry about it...”

The Doctor looks back at him and places a hand on the side of his face, she sees his blood on her hand, and she stumbles over her next words. “I’m so... so sorry Graham. About all of this,” she says quickly. She sighs, they need to move. “We need to move you from here. Whatever shot you could be sending people to this area now, we can’t stay.” explained The Doctor, trying to get through to him. “I know it’s going hurt.” She stares at him and sees the terror behind his eyes, she really doesn’t want to move him like this, but she doesn’t have a choice. If he’s complaining about his ribs, that means they’re possibly broken. Broken ribs mean possible damage to lungs — too many variables at the moment, too much to think about.

Graham stares back at her and glances to Ryan at his side, why couldn’t she send Ryan back to the TARDIS he thinks to himself. He really doesn’t want him seeing him in pain like. He tries to steady his breathing again, but the pain is building with every breath he takes now. “Okay. I’m ready.” he lied.

The Doctor nods and removes her bodied hand from his face, leaving her handprint there. She motions for Ryan to follow her moves as they both support his weight. He calls out again, but they proceed and manage to get him to his feet.

“How you are doing Graham?” she asked, letting him get used to standing. He’s wobbling on his feet, and she knows he would fall if they weren’t holding him up. She keeps his left arm in place, making sure it’s stuck in one position.

Graham stumbles a bit and takes a moment before responding. “Have you... ever been shot before Doc?” He lets the question hang in the air for a bit. “Because… I can assure you... it _fucking hurts,_ ” replied Graham, in short bursts. “That’s one of... the bucket list, I guess… never thought I would.. have the _luxury_ of being... shot.” His tone is drab, and there's a dark, dry humour to it.

The Doctor snorts, but it’s not from amusement. “Weirdly enough, Graham, I have, and I agree with the assessment, it does hurt. It’s one of the reasons I don’t like guns.” replied The Doctor, trying to distract him with a pointless conversation. “Too indiscriminate, and only created to injure something or someone.”

Ryan looks worriedly at The Doctor from his side. He knows Graham doesn’t swear, well tries not too. The fact that he’s just done it twice in a matter of minutes shows how much pain he’s in. He’s about to mention it, but she gives him a pointed look in response and shakes her head mouthing a ‘not now’ at him.

"So Doc, do I.. hold the record, for... fastest shot.. leaving the TARDIS?" asked Graham, trying to lighten the mood but struggling over the much-needed breaths.

"Nearly, but I still hold that record!" replied the Doctor, her tone concerning any other day of the week to Graham and Ryan, but neither cares too much about that right now. She changes the topic from herself back to the one in hand now and looks back at Graham again. “Right, Graham, my mate. We’re going to help you walk now, it’s not far to the TARDIS, and Yaz has told her what happened, she’ll have the room ready for us.” encouraged the Doctor before turning her gaze back to Ryan. “On the count of three, we’ll start moving okay.” Turning back to Graham now as he stares at her. “Try to think of something, go over something only you know okay. Like bus routes! Can’t go wrong with knowing the routes.” He gives a very slight nod, grimacing in pain. She looks back at Ryan again. “One... two…. three.” They take a step forward with Graham between them, he’s wheezing, but he’s not calling out in pain now, but she knows he’s hurting and trying to hide it. She could deal with herself being shot, she heals quicker than humans, and she has a backup plan if it’s serious, but the universe insists that they have to be the ones to take the bullets for her. Only it’s literal in this case.

The journey back to the TARDIS feels a lot longer than she knows it to be, and it breaks her hearts. She takes a glance at Ryan and sees the unshed tears and realises he’s gone into his own form of shock. She hears Graham muttering something about the bus routes in Sheffield under his breath, he took her advice then, but she can’t help but feel the warm wetness growing on her own shoulder and feels deep guilt, they were supposed to be in her protection, and she let one get shot. She knows she’s probably in shock herself and can feel the anxiety from the situation bubbling away under the service. No, she yells in her head, we can deal with that later. It’s more important that she gets him to the medical bay.

They carry on in silence, the occasional whimper from Graham the only thing audible in the clearing of the dead. The Doctor releases the breath she was holding when she sees the blue of the TARDIS again, the doors already opening for her and Ryan as they make their way in. She spots Yaz at the console. “Yaz, help Ryan take Graham to the medical bay. The TARDIS will show you the quickest way.” She waits for her to come over as she gently passes his weight to her. Ryan is too concerned over Graham to look at Yaz, but she can tell he’s not happy with her help.

“You’re not coming with us, Doctor?” asked Yas, taking her eyes away from Ryan. “Can’t you fix it?” The Doctor nods.

“I can fix it, but I’ll come in a second, I need to make sure that the TARDIS is secure first.” Yaz nods. She and Ryan carry on, taking Graham to the medical bay.

The Doctor waits for them to vanish before lashing out at the console, the TARDIS protesting loudly at the treatment. She breaks her composure, and unshed tears finally fall, she’s angry at whatever shot Graham, angry at the entire situation but most of all, she’s mad at herself for letting it happen. Things were supposed to be different this time. Her mind goes to Rose, living in a parallel world, to Donna, no memory of their travels together and then she remembers Tegan, poor Tegan. “ _I’m sick of it_.” He, the Fifth, another youthful version like her Eleventh one, begged Tegan not to leave. He didn’t get it at that time, but she does now. “ _It’s stopped being fun._ ” was one of the last things she said to him before running away. Her Fifth self promised there and then, to mend their ways, and it seems she’s failed once again. Every name and face she failed flashes through her mind. From Adric to Bill. She pushes them away, she can’t do this now, and she drags her eyes back to where her new friends went and promises that he won’t be another name on that list. That none of them ever will be.


	2. Reprehension

The TARDIS has lit up the way to the medical bay, and in a brief moment Ryan sends a thank you to the ancient ship for her help, but his focus is mainly kept on helping his granddad walk. He eyes Yaz and finds she’s staring intently forward, doing her best not to look at him, and he feels the anger from earlier rise again, if she just left when told, then none of this would’ve happened.

The lights disappear into a room as the door swooshes open, inviting them in. They quickly head over to one of the weird-looking beds. It protrudes from the floor in the same style of the central console room, with a slight orange glow coming from the centre of it. They lead Graham over to the beds, helping him onto it and gently lowering him down. A groan escapes through his clenched teeth.

Graham tries to stare around the room, hoping to find anything to distract himself from the rising sick feeling that’s threatening to overcome him as his adrenaline fades. He stopped muttering routes earlier when they stopped being helpful. In his frantic looking around, he spots Yaz take a step back and away from them, her eyes never leaving the floor and he wants to reach out to her, explain that this isn’t her fault because he heard what Ryan said in the trench, the blame thrown at her. Oh, when he’s better and feeling up to it, he’ll have words with him but at this moment in time, he can’t so he decides the best course of action is to stare at the ceiling.

Raising his head towards the ceiling pulls on the muscles in his shoulder, and he lets out a sob, the pain-causing him to break in front of his grandson and someone else who he pretty much considers his granddaughter now.

Ryan brings his eyes up when he hears him, and he tries his best not to let the worry show, but he’s scared and horrified when he sees the drained and tired expression on his granddad’s face. He tightens his hold on Graham’s right hand and feels a minor comfort when he grips back.

“How you doing gramps?” inquired Ryan with a barely concealed worried tone to his voice.

Graham flicks his eyes downwards and stares, not speaking at first, trying to steady his breathing through the sharp pain in his ribs. “Do you… want the truth?” Ryan gives a small nod, knowing that whatever he’s about to say is going to hurt either way, whether it’s a lie or the truth. “I feel like I’m going to throw up... the pain doesn't help, just not... good.” He pauses, allowing the sickness to fade slightly. “Probably won't throw up though.” He knows how to tell the differences between when he’s going to throw up and when he isn’t, had a lot of experience with that when he went through chemo.

“The Doctor will be along soon, she’ll get you fixed up, Graham,” spoke Yaz for the first time in a while. “I’m sor…”

“Don’t even go… there, Yaz.” grunted out Graham, looking at her now. “It ain’t your fault.”

Ryan snorts. “Kinda is though, isn’t it?” Graham turns his eyes to Ryan, a frown on his face now. “What? It’s true, you were nearly killed cause she had to take a closer look!” snapped Ryan, the shock and anger coming forth now as he points at her.

“I didn’t mean for any of this to happen Ryan.”

Ryan releases his hold on Graham’s hand and turns to face her now. “What are you even doing here in the first place? You did what the Doctor said, so you can go now.”

“Ryan, stop,” ordered Graham, pushing himself up now. “Bloody stop it.”

He ignores him, his focus wholly directed at Yaz now. “Cause you ain’t his family really, what is he to you?”

Yaz steps backwards, shocked for a brief second before her own anger comes forth. The stress of the situation getting too much for her to control what she’s about to say. “Oh, that’s rich coming from you.”

“What is that supposed to mean?”

“You only just decided to consider him your granddad, after everything he did for you,” argued Yaz, her hands clenching at her side.

Graham sees Ryan about to retort, and he beats him to it. “Stop it, the pair of you.” snapped Graham, causing the both of them to shut up, his patience finally broken. He ignores the pain building in his shoulder and ribs from his sudden movement as he leans on his right arm. “You’re… fighting… over me like I ain’t even here.” winced out Graham, he waves Ryan away when he comes back. “Honestly if you can’t say... anything… nice to each other… then just go, and I’ll wait until the Doc gets here.”

Yaz glares angrily at Ryan. “He started it, blaming me.” She gestures to herself. “Don't you think I blame myself as it is? I don’t need him to throw my mistake back in my face.”

“I don’t really give a crap who started what… I just want you both to stop fighting over me like I’m not here, and Yaz, it’s not your fault, you weren't the one who shot me,” said Graham, his exhaustion finally winning out as he drops back down into the bed with a low grunt. “Just go, the pair of you cause I don’t need this right now.” He’s probably being a bit of an asshole; he knows that. Grace always said he was in a mood after treatment day and getting him to do anything was hard, but he did it for her in the end. This day is like his treatment day but worse, somehow and he doesn't have her to comfort him.

There’s silence now as Ryan and Yaz stare down one another, daring the other to move first. Graham is about to open his mouth again to tell them to get out, but he’s interrupted when the door opens, allowing entry to the Doctor.

She stares at her two young human friends, eyes hovering on each of them. The unshed tears building in Yaz’s eyes and the angry tremble in Ryan’s hand. “What’s going on?”

“Nothing, Yasmin was just leaving.” bites out Ryan, refusing to break eye contact with her as he uses her full name to spite her.

Graham sighs and ignores the pain in his ribs. “They were both leaving, preferably in opposite directions Doc.”

Yaz finally looks away and turns his attention to Graham, seeing the frustrated and disappointed look on his face. “I’m sorry, Graham, about everything.” She turns and escapes from the room as the Doctor closes her eyes.

Graham watches her go and turns his eyes to Ryan now. “Well done, Ryan, you really cocked that up, didn’t you?”

Ryan has a look of shock on his face at his granddad's tone; he’s never heard him talk or look at him like that. “Why are you taking her side? You got shot cause she..”

Graham interrupts him now and gestures with his good hand. “No Ryan, I got shot cause some coward decided to shoot first without asking questions, but you went full steam ahead and blamed your best friend for something that wasn’t her fault,” replied Graham, stopping for a second before gesturing to the Doctor. “If we use your logic, then maybe it was the Docs fault, she should’ve forced the pair of you down from that blasted hill.” Gesturing to himself now, Graham carries on. “Or maybe it was my fault for not keeping an eye on you like the Doc asked me to, or wait, better yet…” he gestures around the room with his good hand. “...maybe it was the TARDIS’s fault for bringing us here,” said Graham, staring into his grandson's eyes as the ancient ship loudly protests the blame thrown at her. “Can you see how it’s no ones fault Ryan?”

Ryan looks away, refusing to meet his granddad's eyes, knowing he speaks the truth. The Doctor releases a deep breath and comes forward now. “It’s probably best for you to leave Ryan, it’s not going to be pretty, and for his sake, I think it’s better if we all take a moment away from each other.”

“Fine, whatever.” snapped Ryan, turning and stalking from the room as Graham makes a noise of frustration that turns into a whimper. He closes his eyes, trying his best to hold back the sob that’s threatening to escape again.

“I don’t spose you’re going to tell me what happened in here are you?” inquired the Doctor.

Graham gives a slight shake of his head before opening his eyes to look at her. “No, offence Doc but I just want this to be sorted out now.”

The Doctor nods, accepting his wishes and drops the subject for the moment. “All right then, let’s just get you mended and then we’ll focus on them. The TARDIS is a big ship, and she won’t lead them to each other.” said The Doctor, removing her blood-covered coat and washing her hands in the sink provided. She goes over what needs to be looked at and in what order. Ribs first, could be broken, and if they are she’ll need to check how they’re resting against his lungs, but she can rule out any damage to his lungs at this stage though because he’s been managing to breathe and speak.  Then, once that’s done, she can move onto the bullet, that will require surgery and unfortunately with the TARDIS not be able to fly for a while she’ll have to do it by herself and with no help, which means no anaesthesia. He’s not going to like that. Oh, how she wishes Martha was here right now, or at least a medibot.

There’s something she needs to do before doing any of that though. “Right Graham, first thing I’m going to do is give you something for the pain. Luckily enough, I keep a track on the TARDIS of what you’re all allergic to.” said the Doctor offhandedly.

Graham raises an eyebrow, something to distract himself on. “How could you possibly know what we’re allergic to?” He watches as she waves his question away and he frowns, fine then, he’ll ask another time again.

She disappears to the side before returning with a glowing green liquid in a cup. “Just drink this, it’s from the future. Totally safe for human consumption.” explained the Doctor, handing it over to him. “And it aids healing, but you might feel a little bit different. Think of it as the futuristic equivalent of your codeine,” she adds quickly as she watches him look at the cup, imploring him just to drink it.

He gives her dubious look, but he’s too eager for the pain to go away and drinks the strange liquid in full, pulling a disgusted looking face when he hands the cup back. “That’s horrible; you would’ve thought that they could have made it taste nice in the future.”

“You humans are never happy are you?” replied the Doctor, watching and waiting for it to take effect, letting out the breath she didn’t know she was holding when his face relaxes and turns from disgusted with pain to neutral, and distant.

“No, probably not, always something to complain about.” he pauses and furrows his brows. “Like the weather, you’re not British if you don’t complain about the weather.” rambled Graham, his face going through different emotions when he tries to work out why he’s feeling weird. “Uh Doc, was I meant to drink the entire cup cause I feel weird, not bad weird but different, sorta like that one time when I was at college and…”

She hums in agreement with him and allows him to carry on chatting away. She probably gave him a higher dose than necessary but treating him in this state will be easier. She reaches over to the side and picks up a pair of scissors. He gives her a puzzling look. “We’ll have to cut away your jacket and shirt Graham, can’t have you taking them off with your shoulder the way it is.”

A minor amount of lucidity flashes across his face. “No, Doc, please.” She gives him a sorry look. “Fine, whatever.” sulked Graham, not realising he’s just repeated what his grandson said. “But do it neatly, it’s sentimental.”

She nods and gets to work, cutting away the jacket and then moving onto his blood-soaked shirt. His brief moment of clarity has come and gone as he watches what she’s doing through confused eyes. Throwing the jacket and ruined shirt to the side, the Doctor turns to look at the wound, and he follows her gaze. His face twists into a grimace. “Oh, that’s my shoulder.” he points out stupidly while trying to raise a hand to prod at it in curiosity.

She bats his hand away. “That it is, Graham.” murmured the Doctor, okay, yeah, she definitely gave him to much. She carries on inspecting the wound and notes that it’s still slightly bleeding, but the worst is over, thankfully but it’s a sight to see. The wet and dried blood a stark contrast against the pale skin of his shoulder.

“Is it gonna scar Doc?” She flicks her eyes to his face. “Cause if it is, it can match the one on the other side.” rambled Graham absentmindedly. “It’s from the chemo, they put this thing in you, Grace, she would know what it was called.” waved Graham, his voice slightly slurring now.

She frowns and glances to his right side, seeing a scar running across the upper part of his chest but her eyes travel lower when she spots the dark bruise that has spread across his right side.

Giving the wound on his shoulder one last look, she decides that she can leave it alone for a while longer while she tackles the ribs, they were her priority at first. “Graham, I’m going to take a look at your ribs now.” informed the Doctor, stepping away from the bed and reaching for a device. “This, before you ask is a Portable X-Ray, it’s better than the ones you have in your hospitals at the moment.” revealed The Doctor. “It’s fast as well, don’t have to wait that long for the results,” she added just as she starts to scan, the results flashing up instantly. “Oh brilliant.” cheered the Doctor, her voice excitable. He frowns at her. “Your ribs are bruised, so not brilliant for you really, but brilliant because they’re not broken, that means I can safely ignore them now.” she listed off in a fast tone. “Well, not ignore exactly, but you get what I mean right.”

He narrows his eyes. “I don’t know, maybe,” mumbled Graham, looking away and up at the ceiling again.

The Doctor raises the device to his shoulder now and repeats the process before letting out a deep sigh, her previous diagnosis correct. “Unfortunately though Graham, you have a broken clavicle, but at least it’s not shattered, so that’s a bonus.”

“Doc, I’m a Bus Driver, not a doctor, you’re the Doctor,” said Graham, pointing at her with his right hand with a dumb-looking smirk on his face, clearly amused by his own comment.

“You married a nurse Graham, how can you not know the medical terms for the bones in your own body?” she asked incredulously. He gives her another dumb look, and she sees that he’s about to shrug and stops him. “No, no, no, don’t do that, shrugging is a bad idea at the moment, and it’s your collarbone.” She points to where it would be on her own body.

“Why didn’t you just say collarbone?” slurred Graham, his tiredness overcoming him now.

The Doctor ignores his question and looks down at Graham, sighing, he’s not out of the woods, but he’s going to live. Once the pain relief fades, he’s going to be hurting again, and she can’t keep giving him that pain relief, lest he becomes dependent. “I’m going to fix you up now, but I can’t put you under anaesthetic Graham.” She watches him, trying to gauge his reaction.

“Why not?” he asked, focusing back on her quickly.

“I can’t monitor the dosage and work on you at the same time, too risky and I haven’t done this in a long time.” explained The Doctor in full while placing a comforting hand on his right shoulder. “It’s time like this I wished I had Martha back.”

Somewhere in the back of Graham’s mind, he files that name away, something to ask about at a later date. He looks at her, the drug still in his system giving him a slightly dazed look about him. “It’s not gonna hurt though Doc, is it?”

She shakes her head. “Not with the pain relief running through you.”

“After this, I'll never joke about you not having a medical license again,” muttered Graham, trying to lighten the mood and distract himself from what she’s about to do.

“Oh, my license was revoked years ago, or it’s out of date, maybe both.” said the Doctor with a shrug. “But I’ll definitely hold you to that Graham,” she responded, before taking a steady breath as she begins the process of removing the blasted bullet from him.

* * *

 

Finishing up the final bandage as she secures his arm to his chest, he isn’t going to be able to use it for a while. Not until his collarbone heals anyway. Turning away she looks down and picks up the container that she deposited the bullet in earlier, and stares down at it; such a small thing caused all this, she holds it within her hand. She’ll analyse that later, find out where it came from and what could’ve fired it. With that idea in the works she is raising her eyes to look back at Graham and she lets out a weary sigh. He eventually succumbed to the tiredness and drugs, passing out halfway through. She inclines her head to the side as she brushes his damp hair off his face and she can’t help but feel like she’s intruding on a private moment when she watches him sleep — the utterly relaxed expression on his face, unaware of what happened at this moment in time.

There’s a noise at the door, and she turns her head to see Yaz stood awkwardly in the opening. “Is that it?” She gestures to the container in her hand.

The Doctor nods in confirmation.

Yaz wipes a hand across her eyes and sniffs slightly. “I just wanted to know how it went, but you probably don’t want to see me right now.”

She frowns at her. “What do you mean?”

“We had an argument in front of Graham, you keep telling us to be better but....” mumbled Yaz, looking away. “... we bickered while he was sat there, watching us, he probably told you what we said.” She trains her eyes at his sleeping form. “And he probably blames me just like Ryan does now.”

“He doesn’t blame you Yaz, you know he couldn’t, and what happened wasn’t your fault.”

She shakes her head. “But it is Doctor if we just left when you said, then none of this would’ve happened.”

The Doctor walks away from Graham and picks up a blanket; she makes her way back over to him and places it across his unconscious form. “No Yaz, those are What If’s, there’s no point in thinking “What if I did that?” because it can’t change what happened.” explained the Doctor, giving Graham one last look before turning and walking towards the exit. “The blame lies with whatever shot him, something that I’m going to look into.” said the Doctor, her tone and expression turning dark for a second before morphing into something Yaz usually recognises. “Did you want to stay with him?”

Yaz removes her eyes from the Doctors and stares back at Graham. “I don’t think it’ll be for the best at the moment; I just wanted to know if he was okay before asking you something.”

“What did you want to ask me?”

Yaz scuffs her feet into the floor. “I want you to take me back to Sheffield, just for the moment, I don’t think it’s a good idea if I bump into Ryan.”

The Doctor nods, and steps around Yaz and exits the room. “All right, but Graham will be disappointed you didn't say bye to him.”

She shrugs. “He has other stuff to worry about right now.”

The Doctor walks forward, and she realises how young two of her companions really are. This is probably their first time seeing something like this, she reckons, but she suddenly stops her thought process, no, this is something Yaz has just seen. Ryan, on the other hand, he’s seen too much for someone of his age, and this has it hit close to home for him, and she finally understands the anger and worry from him now. First his mum, then his nan, to possibly losing Graham today if he was hit in a vital organ.

And it comes crashing back down on her, the panic from earlier hitting her like a tonne of bricks and sending her into a nearby wall as she struggles for breath.

“Doctor?” asked Yaz, rushing to her side. “Are you all right?”

She squeezes her eyes shut, willing the panic to go away. Really not wanting to do this in front of her young friend, she forces herself to stand up, eventually staggering to her full height.

Yaz stares at her, seeing the shaking hands and she knows a panic attack when she sees one. Just never thought her friend would have them. “Doctor, what colour shirt am I wearing?” The Doctor opens her eyes and tries to focus her eyes on Yaz. “Just answer the question, Doctor.” pleaded Yaz, trying to find a way to distract her friend from whatever caused her to enter this state.

“Red.” answered the Doctor, figuring out what her young friend is trying to do, and smiling, a fondness growing within her. She instead focuses on Yaz's face now, looking at the details and distracting herself from the panic about nearly losing Graham today. “I know what you’re trying to do Yaz.” smiled the Doctor weakly as the anxiety bleeds away and into an ever-existing presence. "I appreciate it."

Yaz gives her a moment to compose herself, but she can tell that the anxiety is still there, brewing under the service as the Doctors hand twists into her trousers. “What was that about?”

The Doctor waves her question away and starts making her way back to the console room again, making Yaz look at her back in worry. “I think we all just need to get back to Sheffield.” finished the Doctor, ending the conversation in full. They just need to try and put this behind them, but she knows it’s not as simple as it sounds in her head, taking a deep breath she stares down at the console, her eyes lingering on the cup from that morning and her heart sinks. It was meant to be a good day, and it started out so well.


	3. Ramifications

Yaz rushes her way up the steps to her flat in Park Hill, tears escaping her eyes as the stress of everything overcomes her. She slams her key in the door and heads in quickly, sagging against the wall with a thud that draws the attention of her parents inside the house.

“Is that you Yaz?” asked the voice of her father from the kitchen. “Did you forget something love?”

She wipes a shaky hand across her eyes. “No, just, needed to come back,” she replied, her voice breaking as her emotions get the better of her. There’s a noise in the kitchen, something being placed down she thinks, and her stomach falls as her father walks around the corner.

“Is everything all right, Yaz? You don’t sound…” his voice trails away when he spots her leaning against the wall. “What happened? You only just left,” said Hakim, walking forward now with affection and concern on his face. He goes to open his mouth again but stops when he sees a dried, rust coloured stain across her clothes.

She catches what he’s looking at, and her eyes dart down to her clothes before flicking back up to her father. Another sinking feeling sits within her, and she feels stupid, so stupid, of course, her clothes would have blood on them. Graham must’ve bled on her when she and _Ry_.. when she helped take him to the medical bay, it just didn’t register in her head at the time.

“That’s.. that’s blood, are you injured?” stammered Hakim, as his eyes frantically checking her over. “We need to call..”

“I’m fine, dad.” snapped Yaz, interrupting as her voice breaks again. “I’m fine; it’s not mine.”

He sighs in relief, but a frown crosses his face instantly. “What do you mean it’s not yours? If it isn’t yours then who’s, is it? And where are they?”

“Hakim, give her space.” said the voice of Najia and Yaz looks up to her mother in relief.

“But she’s covered in blo..”

“Hovering isn’t going help,” said Najia, walking forward and placing a reassuring hand on her husband shoulder and looking at Yaz in care. “What happened Yasmin? Does this have something to do with the Doctor, is she hurt?”

Yaz steps from the wall and grabs her mother into a hug while shaking her head. “Graham was.” sobbed Yaz through her mothers top as she holds onto her like life a preserver. “And it was all my fault, mum.” cried Yaz, wetting her mothers top with her tears.

Hakim looks to Najia for help, vaguely recognising the name but not being able to place a face to it. Najia mouths an ‘ _I’ll tell you later_ ’ to him and hugs her daughter tighter.

Yaz carries on, oblivious to her parents' silent conversation. “If I just did as the Doctor told mum, then Graham wouldn’t have been injured like that and Ryan…” She pauses, trying to compose herself and failing. “...Ryan wouldn’t hate me right now.”

Najia wraps her arms around her daughter even tighter and rests her chin on her head. Hakim looks between the two and joins them, wrapping his arms and offering what little comfort that he can, he’s not sure what happened or who this Graham is but he can’t stand to see his daughter upset. “Shh love, you’re safe now,” reassured Hakim. He has half a mind to find where Ryan lives and demand why he apparently hates her now. What could’ve Yaz done to deserve that? He lowers his eyes to her again and sighs, he won’t do it yet, at least not until he’s sure his daughter is all right.

* * *

 

There’s a deep aching pain that pulls him from his unconscious state and back to the waking world with a low groan as the intrusive ache within his shoulder urges him to sit up, do anything to take the pressure from it. After a moment and with an intake of breath and a whimper, he sits up and swings his tired legs over the side of the bed, his ribs protesting both actions instantly. He notices that the blanket the Doctor, well it had to be her who gave it to him any way he thinks, falls, revealing his strapped arm and bandaged shoulder.

He frowns down at it, trying to remember anything, but it’s all a blurred memory. He knows he was shot, that's not something anyone would forget, but the memory from after that is, lacking. He’s distracted from his thoughts when a wave of sickness rears its ugly head, and he swallows it down with a groan. He leans forward slightly, his right hand resting against his knee as he takes a look around the medical bay, trying to focus on anything that would jog his memory. After looking around his gaze is finally drawn to his ruined shirt and damaged jacket, eyes lingering on the dried stains covering them, recognising and remembering as the previous night flashes by in his mind in rapid succession.

The horrible green liquid, the pain, and eventually, the back to the fight and Ryan’s blame. He knows he needs to get up, find Yaz, apologise for what Ryan said, make it known that he doesn’t blame her at all cause it wasn’t her fault, none of it was. Sucking in another breath, ignoring the pull from on his ribs and the warning sign from earlier, he staggers to his feet, regretting that decision instantly as the wave of sickness hits him fully now, causing him to bend over painfully and retch. He knows he’s not going to throw up, the handy power he learnt from the chemo days coming back, but it doesn’t make it the feeling any less pleasant.

He hears the door swish open, and then there’s a yelling voice from the doorway, shouting something at him, but he ignores them and feels sorry for himself instead. He feels a comforting hand placed on his back.

“What are you doing up?” asked the concerned voice of the Doctor, he realises.

He takes a second to steady himself. “Thought it would be a grand idea to go for a long walk.” snarked Graham through shaky breaths. “Evidently, that was a crap idea.”

“Yes, it was, because what you need to do is get back into bed and rest Graham.” responded the Doctor, placing down the object she held in her hands.

Graham gives a very slight shake of his head and turns around slowly to face the Doctor. “No, need to find Yaz, tell her that Ryan was… just being an idiot.”

“No, Graham.” said the Doctor, giving him a ‘This time you will listen to me look’. “Whatever they said to each other can wait until you are better.”

He stares at her. “Doc..”

“No, you were shot!” stated the Doctor, her voice rising as the panic escape again. “You could’ve died Graham.” _I could’ve lost you, like all the others before you_ , she doesn’t add. “They aren’t injured like you are.”

“I didn’t though..”

“Please, just, please follow what I say.” begged the Doctor, her voice straining.  “Please.”

 _Listen to the Doc, Graham, because someone not listening brought you into this position_ , his mind unhelpfully adds in a bitter tone that he squashes down. No, the only person he’s going to blame is the one that shot him, whoever that was. “Okay..” He gives up and allows the Doctor to direct him back to the bed, the aches and throbs irritating him. He looks back at the Doctor and then towards the new item she brought in.

"What's that?"

The Doctor looks back at it and picks it up. "It's a shirt for you but not one of yours." He frowns at her in confusion. "Your shirts would've been too small, so I got this for you." She hands it over to him, and he pulls a face.

"When was the last time you washed this?" asked Graham, holding it out from him. "And who's, was it? Cause it's a good few sizes too big for you, Doc."

She reaches for it again, taking a proper look at it now as a sad smile graces her face. "Nardoles, I think."

Graham turns his eyes from the shirt and observes her face, seeing the melancholy look upon it. "You'll have to help me put it on Doc, can't really do the buttons up can I?" said Graham, trying to snap the Doctor from her thoughts which he succeeds in doing when she gives him a nod and starts to help him to get it on. He carries on watching her face, though. "Nardole was someone before us, right?" She nods again, eyes only focusing on the buttons. He wants to ask what happened and why they aren't with her not but judging from the look in her eye and the comment she made when she first met them, he can probably safely work it out.

She doesn't look him in the eye as she finishes doing up the shirt. "There you go, Graham." She turns away and stares ahead.

Graham narrows his eyes at the back of her head and decides to change the subject. “Hey Doc, you got any more of that stuff? The glowing green liquid that tasted like drain cleaner and looked radioactive.”

She turns around now, a fake smile on her face. “You know what drain cleaner tastes like Graham?” inquired the Doctor. “Cause I do, tried it once! Spat it out very quickly though, but in my defence they made it smell so tasty.”

“And for some reason, I’m not surprised that you have.” retorted Graham in jest. “But seriously, pain killer, please.”

The Doctor pulls a small face. “I can’t give you what I gave you last night.” replied the Doctor, turning and reaching to grab something from one of the sides. “So It’ll just have to be over the counter stuff from now on.” She hands the box over to him.

He takes it and stares down at it before looking back up. “I'm not being funny Doc, but this is Ibuprofen, you telling me that you don’t have anything stronger? Can't just nip to the future to get something?”

The Doctor sighs, shaking her head. “Graham, you have six to eight weeks worth of recovery, plus physio. You’ll need tablets that you can get back at home, and I’ll rather have you on something that your body is used to.”

“But Ibuprofen, really?” She gives him a serious expression. “Fine, fair enough, Ibuprofen it is then.” sulked Graham, looking less than pleased as he struggles to pop two out from the packet, eventually succeeding and placing them in his mouth. “I need water,” mumbled Graham over the tablets in his mouth. The Doctor nods and heads off to get some from the sink. “Where are Ryan and Yaz, anyway?” pondered Graham, changing the topic. He’s a little hurt that Ryan isn’t here, but he’s not sure he really wants to see him at the moment. Too disappointed that he stood there and blamed his best friend for something she didn't do, but he guesses in Ryan's defence, he was probably scared.

“I dropped Yaz back at her flat before landing in your living room.” replied the Doctor, handing over the cup.

Graham accepts it and takes a swig, swallowing down the tablets before looking back at the Doctor. “And Ryan, where is he?”

“He left the TARDIS and locked himself within his bedroom. I haven’t heard anything else from him since.”

Graham's face falls, and he sighs, managing to ignore the pain, too used to it now. “What are we going to do about them, Doc?”

The Doctor looks back up at Graham now. “What do you mean?”

“Doc, as much as the word ‘ _Fam_ ’ sounds ridiculous to me, we’re still one, aren’t we? And at this moment in time, we aren’t. So how are we going to get the ‘ _Fam_ ’ back together.” said Graham as he lifts his right arm to make a one-handed quotation mark. He stares at his hand. “You know Doc, that would’ve looked better if I could’ve done it with my left hand as well, but someone decided _strapping_ it to my chest was a good idea.”

The Doctor sees a very tired smirk on his face, it doesn’t reach his eyes, but it’s there, and she’ll take it for the moment. “It was for your own good Graham, and I thought you weren’t going to insult my medical degree again.”

“I don’t remember saying that Doc.” teased Graham.

The Doctor gives him a pointed look. “But you said it last night!”

“When I was hopped up on radioactive alien painkiller?” smiled Graham. “And you never had it down in writing.”

“No, I didn’t, but from now on, I’ll make sure I get it down in writing, Graham.” said the Doctor, a smile forming at her lips now. There’s a moment of silence as they both look at one another, their faces falling when they both realise they miss the other two. “We’ll work it out Graham, but for the moment we’ll just focus on you, they aren’t going anywhere for the time being.” He gives her a nod and settles back down on the bed.

“Yeah, spose you’re right Doc.”

* * *

 

Ryan is on his lying on his back and staring up at the ceiling of his bedroom, phone in hand. He rereads the message he wrote and considers it to his dad, briefly informing him what happened but he pauses again knowing that Aaron will just come round guns blazing — demanding to know why the Doctor put his son in a situation like that. And Ryan can’t help but agree with the mental image of his father; the only difference is he doesn’t blame the Doctor.

His thoughts travel back to Yasmin, and he feels the anger from the previous night bubble beneath his skin like an attack dog wanting to be free. The logical part of his brain is telling him that it wasn’t her fault, she wasn’t to know that Graham was about to be shot, but the illogical part, the part that needs something to blame is louder. Due to her actions, he nearly lost someone else he loves, and he’s not sure he can forgive her for it.

He looks back down at the phone again, eyes reading the message. His finger hovering over the send button but he stops again when a guilty feeling overcomes him. This isn't about him, or Yasmin. This is about Graham, his grandad and he’s left him in the TARDIS to go and sulk in his room. Although he did ask the Doctor if everything went all right, he just never personally went back to check on him.

Feeling an intense dislike at himself now, he lets out a deep sigh and slowly gets up, stretching his limbs as he does. He feels the tiredness coming from them as he makes his way from the room and down the stairs, hoping that Graham will at least want to see him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wasn't going to add in Yaz' parents or the mention of Aaron but then they appeared and I went "Oh"  
> And if I'm right Hakim never saw Graham so he wouldn't know what he looked like, but I figured Yaz would've at least mentioned his name at some point.


	4. Recognition

_A week later..._

 

Graham scowls down at the kettle and mug; he never took making a cuppa for granted before and he won’t again. Sighing in frustration, he turns around and brings his right hand to his face. A week ago, his day started exactly the same way before it went tits-up and nosed dived off a cliff. Ryan and Yaz haven’t spoken to each other at all since that fateful day, and every time he’s gone round to her flat she’s either at ‘ _work_ ’, ‘ _out_ ’, or ‘ _sleeping_ ’ but he knows the truth of the matter, she’s avoiding him, and he hates it.

“Gramps, you should’ve said you wanted a tea,” said Ryan suddenly startling Graham and causing him to jump and wince when it pulls at his now, unbandaged shoulder and bruised ribs.

“Ryan, scare the living daylights outta why don't ya!”

“Sorry.” apologised Ryan in a very sheepish tone before stepping forward when he sees Graham trying to make a tea. “Here let me do it for you.”

Graham gestures grumpily with his right hand and moves away from the countertop with the kettle on and heads over to the other side of the kitchen. “You know, I’ve not forgotten how to make a tea son.”

“Nah, I know you haven’t, but it’s fine, I don’t mind.”

Graham watches as Ryan turns away, focusing intently on his current task and he counts to ten, he’s not angry at Ryan per se, he’s just tired of being looked after like he’s incapable of doing anything now. It reminds him too much of his chemo days. “You really don’t have to though,” muttered Graham, reaching for his painkillers and waving Ryan away when he offers to open them for him. He heads over to the sink, picking up any old cup on the way and filling it with water.

“I can get you a clean..”

“It’s fine, Ryan.” snapped Graham, taking the tablets in one gulp. He glances at Ryan and sees the hurt expression on his face. “Sorry, I’ve not been sleeping, and the shoulder and ribs are killing me.” He doesn’t mention the growing headache from being stuck in the house all day, every day with two people buzzing around him like annoying flies in the summer.

“No, it’s fine.” smiled Ryan, accepting his grandad's attitude without a fuss which causes Graham to feel, and to put it bluntly, even shittier than he already does.

He accepts the tea when Ryan hands it to him and tries to hide the grimace when he drinks it. He has a certain way he likes to make tea and unfortunately, Ryan doesn’t quite have that knack yet and he probably never will. “Where’s the Doc?”

“She’s in the TARDIS, still going over that bullet again.”

“I told her just to leave it, what happened, happened. That’s the end of it because I don’t want her going on some stupid quest for revenge or whatever she does in her downtime.”

Ryan looks down at the ground, not really knowing what to say. “She just wants to make sure nothing like this happens again, that’s all Gramps.”

“That’s the thing Ryan,” said Graham in an exasperated tone. “She can’t make sure this doesn’t happen again.” He places down his lacklustre tea and brings his right to the bridge of his nose. “We all knew the dangers when we started travelling with her, and I’ve accepted that.” He gestures to his shoulder. “Hell, I have proof, but me and her, we’ve talked, she even gave me the option to drop out, telling me she would completely understand if I did, but I told her she was being daft.”

“She did that?”

“Yeah, when you were sulking in your room, we spoke about a lot of stuff, actually,” replied Graham, lifting his head and now looking directly at Ryan. “When are you going to speak to Yaz?”

Ryan faces morphs into a frown instantly. “Why would I want to?”

“Cause she’s your mate, you fool.”

Ryan laughs and shakes his head. “No, it was her…”

“Ryan Sinclair, I swear, if you blame her again,” warned Graham, his voice somehow managing to channel the spirit of Grace. “I told you it wasn’t her fault.”

Ryan looks ashamed and kicks at the floor. “Whatever, she’s hardly a friend though cause she hasn’t even been to see you, even when you went to her place when you should’ve been resting, she refused.”

“Cause someone put it in her head that this entire thing was her fault Ryan and said person got her believing that I, myself, blame her when I don’t.” He lets out a long deep breath as his ribs complain loudly about it. “Look, son, I get it, you were scared.” started Graham in a slight grimace as he walks forward. “Hell, remember when I went John McClane all on that blue bastard? I understand blaming someone and acting on your basic emotions, but unlike that situation, Ryan is that Yaz is your friend and you owe it to her to apologise for what you said.”

Ryan sighs and looks up, his eyes have a wet sheen to them. “How, when she doesn’t even want to see you? The only person who has been there and seen her is the Doctor.”

Graham shrugs and winces, forgetting about his shoulder for a brief second. “You got to bloody work at it son.” He leans back onto the counter; his left arm now clutched around his torso in protection. “I had a friend once, back in school.” Ryan looks up at Graham, watching him. “We were as thick as thieves, looked out for each other, got all the detentions, but it didn’t matter because we were together.” Graham looks down with a frown on his face. “But something happened, something I did, that, to this day I’m still not proud off and I ruined it, what we had together.” Graham's voice is far away, reminiscing on details long forgotten.

“You make it sound like it was something more,” stated Ryan, curiosity eating away at him. He never really gave much thought about what his grandad did back when he was at the same age thinking about it.

“Yeah, it was, or could’ve been..” murmured Graham as he chews the inside of his mouth, his thoughts whirling through his head. He looks back at Ryan. “The point is I ruined it, said something in anger, blamed them for something when it wasn’t their fault and never had the balls to own up to my mistake.” He rests his head in his right now. “And I lost that friendship forever.”

“You still miss them?”

“It’s an ache in the heart that never goes away.” He sighs and pulls a face when his ribs protest the treatment again. “When you care for someone, friendship or other, you never think for a second ‘ _Is this ever gonna end?_ ’ You just go from day to day, enjoying each other and then something happens and you blamed them when it wasn’t their fault, and it’s ruined, tarnished forever, and then you’re left feeling empty, like a part of your soul is missing.” gestured Graham with his right arm.

“Like with Nan?” wondered Ryan.

Graham shakes his head. “No, with your Nan it was different, it hurts and yeah, another part of my soul is gone, but we never fell out, it ended when we still loved each other. My mate, on the other hand…” He pauses. “I know they’re alive, cause sometimes I search them up like an ex-girlfriend.” He laughs, the sound breaking the tension very slightly and only briefly. “And it hurts cause the friendship or whatever it was, is gone cause they’ve moved on, got their own family now.”

“You never thought about contacting them?” asked Ryan, crossing his arms and looking at Graham in great interest.

“It’s been too long now, son. Better just to leave it and remember what it was.” Graham breaths out again, this time ignoring the strain in his side. “And anyway this isn’t about me and my failings, it’s about you and what you’re gonna do about your friendship with your best mate, cause I don’t want you ending up like me.”

“She doesn’t even want to see you, she’s definitely not gonna wanna see me.”

“Well, that’s something you’re gonna have to figure out Ryan for yourself,” replied Graham now leaning from the countertop and heading towards the door.

Ryan leans away and follows after his granddad, his own lacklustre tea forgotten. “How?”

Graham turns and gives him a tired look. “You got to bloody work for it son, it ain’t gonna be easy, and it’s gonna suck, but you can’t just say ‘ _sorry for being a prat_ ’ and be done with it,” answered Graham, his voice distracted slightly as he tries to kick his shoes on.

Ryan spots his troubles and bends to pick them up. “Where are you going, Gramps?” probed Ryan.

“Our talk also made me realise something,” responded Graham, heading around to the stairs and sitting down on them before gesturing for Ryan to give him a hand, even as his pride hurts to ask for it.

Ryan doesn’t question and helps his granddad; the only thing he doesn’t do is tie them. All his shoes are slips on, and he never bothered to learn how to tie shoes, pointless when it’s a struggle with dyspraxia. “What did you realise?”

Graham gingerly uses his left hand, the movement slow and painful. “That I too need to work on my friendship with Yaz.” It’s a bit weird calling it a friendship, they’re hardly two people that you’d put together, most people would probably confuse her for his granddaughter, and If he’s honest, he wouldn’t say that wasn’t the case, she might as well be his granddaughter. “That’s where I’m going now.”

Ryan looks troubled. “Should I come as well?”

Graham shakes his head. “Nah, probably not the best idea for the moment and by waiting today, it’ll give you a chance to figure out what you want to say to her, or need to say to her.”

Ryan nods and reaches for one of Graham’s jackets and helps put it on him. Graham looks at the cloth jacket and frowns. “The Doc said she was gonna fix my leather one, I liked that one more,” he grumbled.

“And she will,” replied Ryan, pausing slightly when he catches the dark purple bruise across Graham’s collarbone and neck. Graham notices when he’s looking and rearranges the jacket, covering it from view. “You gonna say bye to the Doctor before you go?” asked Ryan, stumbling over his words.

“She probably already knows what I’m going to do,” muttered Graham before looking back at Ryan, a slight smirk on his aged face. “Cause between the pair of you I can’t get a moment of peace without one of your harassing me.”

Ryan returns the smirk with one of his own, but there’s still a look of shame buried beneath. “True that.”

“It’ll work out, just give it time and try to figure out what you want to say to her,” said Graham before patting his grandson on his arm and turning towards the door, opening and pulling a face when the cold air hits him. “I’ll see you later. Wish me luck.”

“Good luck.”

Graham nods and steps out into the cold, spring air.

* * *

 

The walk up the stairs to Yaz’ flat was painful, and he would’ve used the lift, but he’ll rather not get stuck in some dodgy-looking lift that smells like piss if he’s honest with himself. So the stairs it was, also handy because it gave more time to think about what he was going to say to Yaz and by extension her family.

He takes a deep breath, wincing and looking down to make sure his jacket covers his bruising before knocking on the door. The nervous feeling sitting within him as the door opens, revealing Yaz’ sister, Sonya, he thinks her name is.

Sonya glares at Graham when she realises who’s at the door again. “What do you want?”

Graham ignores the glare for the time being. “I want to speak to Yaz.”

“She’s not here,” answered Sonya, already starting to close the door and only to stop when Graham places his foot in the way. She sighs and glares harder at Graham. “She doesn't want to see you, or Ryan.”

“I need to speak to her, please.” pleaded Graham. He knows Yaz and Sonya bicker and Yaz is always complaining about how Sonya drives her up the wall on the TARDIS, but deep down he knows her sister is just looking out for her.

Sonya glare falters for a brief second. “How do you even know my sister?” The door loosens on his foot. “It’s through that woman, isn't it? That’s how you know each other, what are you her dad or something?” Graham gives her a perplexed look, wondering what the hell she’s talking about. Sonya rolls her eyes. “The blond-haired woman, weird and hopeless at small talk, loves my dad's terrible pakora. You look about the right age to be her dad.”

Graham's eyes widen in recognition. “The Doc?” Sonya nods. “I'm not her da… oh never mind, is Yaz in?” he asked again, removing his foot from the door now.

Sonya considers him and gives him a once over before opening the door and allowing him entry, she turns and faces away from him. “Yaz your girlfriend's dad is here, and he wants to speak to you,” yelled Sonya to the house. Graham hears a distant noise.

“She’s not my girlfriend..” replied the voice of Yaz. “And whos dad?” She makes her way around the corner, her eyes going wide when she spots Graham stood awkwardly in her hallway.

“Graham.”

“Yaz.”

Sonya looks between the pair of them and rolls her eyes again, pulling out her phone. “Why are all your friends weird Yaz, can you never get any normal ones?” muttered Sonya, turning and leaving the room and never once removing her eyes from her phone.

Yaz glares at the back of her head and turns her gaze back to Graham; she can’t help but stare at his covered shoulder, knowing what’s hidden under the fabric.

Graham catches her staring now, his own eyes looking down at it. They stand in uncomfortable silence, everything that Graham planned to say has gone out the window and hurtled to the ground like a sack of potatoes. “It’s not as bad as it was Yaz,” he said instead, wincing at the comment, he didn’t want to draw attention to the gunshot in the room, so to speak and he’s just done that. “I mean… let's just start over, shall we?”

Yaz nods and gestures to her living room, inviting him to take a seat. “It’s just me and Sonya at the moment,” muttered Yaz, causing Graham to give her an encouraging look for at least speaking to him. “Why are you here?”

Graham sits down slowly, in the process he notices that he’s left his shoes on. His mother always told him to take them off when entering another’s home, but without Ryan, he wouldn’t be able to get them back on again. The awkward moment continues. “Yaz, this ain’t your fault. You know that, right?” Yaz crosses her arms and looks down at the floor. “None of it was, and I don’t blame you for what happened, never did and never will love.”

Yaz sucks in a shaky breath, one Graham hears, and he watches as she wobbles before bringing a hand to her face and wiping at her eyes. “If I just left when the Doctor…”

“No, Yaz, don’t do that to yourself.” comforted Graham. He tries to think of something to relate the two situations together and clicks his right hand when he does. “What about if I never found that mine on that junk planet?” said Graham suddenly. “Cause if I didn’t then none of us would’ve got caught in that sonic mine, or whatever the Doc called it.”

“That was an accident though…” replied Yaz, finally looking up at him and noticing the sudden raised eyebrow on Graham’s face.

“So was getting shot, love,” stated Graham, like he was pointing out the weather. “And if me getting shot was your fault, then me getting us all blown up was mine and in my book, getting four people blown up is a lot worse than getting one shot..” finished Graham, pointing out the fatal flaw in her logic. “See, it’s no one's fault.”

“But Ryan said…”

“Ryan says a lot of things and some of them are incredibly stupid and ill-thought-out. He’s just a kid like you are.” Graham rises to his feet, and he catches the frown on Yaz’ face and decides to jump in before she can say she’s not a kid. “He’s nineteen, and you’re twenty and compared to me and definitely compared to the Doc, even though she acts like a toddler on a sugar rush, making me feel like I’m the only adult aboard her damn ship, you’re both kids,” said Graham in one quick breath. He looks on and feels smug inside when he sees a smile ghost her drawn-out face.

“You don’t blame me?” Graham shakes his head, closing the gap between them. “I thought you hated me; the Doctor said you didn’t but… I thought…” She finally lets go of the stress that was building up inside and sags in tears and exhaustion. Graham finally closes the gap and grabs her into a hug, his shoulder, and ribs protesting the pressure, but he doesn’t care, not when Yaz is crying anyway.

“I could never hate you Yaz, and if I did, you can bet on Grace finding her way back to give me a smack around the head,” replied Graham, as he rests his head on hers. He feels her sob in his arms and can’t help the wetness appearing in his own eyes.

They stay there, with Yaz releasing the built-up worry and stress over the past week over the next few minutes, she eventually pulls away. “Sorry, Graham, I got your shoulder wet,” mumbled Yaz.

Graham waves her comment away with his right hand. “That’s fine,” reassured Graham, smiling at her. “Thank you for at least speaking with me, I know you weren’t expecting me, but thanks.”

Yaz nods and heads over to the sofa, sitting down and gesturing to the seat next to her. Graham takes the seat with a wince that he can’t hide from view. She stares back at his shoulder again. “How is it?”

“How is what?” replied Graham casually, he knows what she’s asking, and he knows she knows that.

Yaz sighs. “Your shoulder, don't try to hide it. I saw your wince, so I know you’re still in pain.”

Graham breathes out and decides to show her rather than explain. His brings his right hand up and pulls the jacket away, revealing the dark purple bruise across his collarbone and neck. “It’s been better, have to say that. The Doc had stuff that healed the actual wound up pretty quickly, but the broken bone and bruising, well that takes time.”

“Can I see the wound?” Graham frowns at her, not entirely keen on showing her. “Please, Graham, I just want to know what you went through. That’s all.”

Graham relents and pulls his jacket and his loose T-Shirt over, showing the scarred circular mark to her. “It’s not as bad as it looks and the wound itself doesn’t hurt anymore but the ribs and collarbone, they still do.” Yaz nods and watches when he moves the clothes back. “I’m not showing you my ribs, though.”

Yaz goes over her brief first aid training in her head. “Can you use your hand? You’ve mainly been using your right hand since you got here.” she worried, scared that he might have problems for the rest of his life.

“The Doc has me doing these daft exercises, saying that I need to do them because of something or other, I tuned her out when she told me for the fifth time.” moaned Graham sourly. “Being cooped up in the house has been hell, if Ryan ain’t hanging around me and trying to make me horrendous teas all the time, then the Doc is badgering me about doing those stupid physio things.”

“You probably should follow her advice, Graham; she is a Doctor.”

“That’s debatable.” joked Graham, smiling when he sees the first real smile on her face. “Yeah, you’re right Yaz. I know they’re both just trying to help, but I don’t like being coddled, it reminds me of days I would rather forget.” Yaz furrows her brows at him in confusion. “Chemo days Yaz.” elaborated Graham, but he doesn’t go into further detail, and she doesn’t push.

Yaz taps her leg in the silence, her thoughts going back to when Graham mentioned Ryan. “How is he?”

“How is who?”

“Ryan, how is he?” asked Yaz again, her voice far away as she doesn’t make eye contact.

“Still an idiot but he at least regrets everything he said now.”

“He does?” she inquired, her voice barely audible to his ears.

Graham nods and nudges her with his right hand making her turn to face him. “He was scared Yaz, and I’m not defending what he said, but from his point of view, he panicked and thought he was about to lose someone else. First, his mum, then his nan, and then me.”

“He’s lost a lot for someone so young.”

“Yeah, he has, but it doesn’t excuse what he said to you, you’re his best mate, and he treated you like, excuse my language here Yaz, utter shit.” She gives him a surprising look at the swear. “But he’s working on making it up to you, whether that’s tomorrow or in a weeks time, he’ll do it. The reason why he’ll do that is because, at the end of the day, you were the one he yelled out. He needs to come to you, not the other way round but..." He pauses, briefly and gives her a pointed look. "...also don’t keep him waiting too long, love, let him come to you but don’t kick him to the curb straight away when he does.”

Yaz nods and faces away again. Her thoughts are going over everything Graham just told her and shown her. It’ll take time before she’s ready actually to see and speak to Ryan, but one thing's for sure, she’s glad she’s had this much-needed talk with Graham. Happy to finally know that he doesn’t blame or hate her. She looks back at him and places a hand on his arm. “Thank you, Graham, you’re a good man, you know that.” He beams at her, and she returns the smile. “Now I might not make a tea as good as you, but I’m probably better than ‘ _Mr Energy Drink_ ’ so as you’re here, do you want one?”

“Oh, you have no idea Yaz, it’s practically torture drinking it, what I would do for a half-decent cup.” She nods at him and heads over to the kitchen. He watches her go and smiles genuinely at her back, they’ve got a long way to go, but they’ll get there, eventually.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I left Graham's friend gender ambiguous because I was going to establish them and name them but thought that's not the true point of this story so it's up to you to decide.

**Author's Note:**

> I've wanted to do a fic where the Fam fell apart for a while now and could only see it really happening if it was Graham getting injured.  
> Should be about three to four chapters.


End file.
